Line Boring Attachment, or Dedicated Machine?

A separate machine for line boring makes more practical sense than buying an attachment for another machine. April 20, 2008

QuestionI'm looking at the Blum mini-press with the 7 spindle line boring attachment. I'm going to switch to Inserta hinges, and I need a line boring unit. Any pros or cons would be nice.

Forum Responses(Cabinetmaking Forum)
From contributor B:For the price of a boring head you will be very close to the price of a Delta or other 13-spindle line boring machine. Not only will you drill double the holes, you will eliminate the setup time. If you don't need the feature on the Blum for other functions, a dedicated machine is very nice.

From contributor H:Ditto what contributor B said. The 7 spindle takes too much time to change and is expensive. I have a 44 spindle Detel double line borer that I bought on E-bay for 3500.00. I used to have a Delta and it was a good machine, but you cannot use it for drawer system holes. The Inserta hinges are the only ones we use and they save more time per hinge than the extra cost; well worth it in my opinion.
From contributor D:Can you drill the Inserta hinge pattern on the Delta?
From contributor R:You should have at least the Mini Drill. Save your money from that 7 spindle head and buy a 13 spindle machine. I use Insertas also, and I was lucky enough to find a used Mini Drill (no ram). Works fine and saved money over a new Mini Press.
From contributor T:No, you can't drill for the hinge cups with a line borer. What everybody is advising is to buy the Blum machine for boring the hinges. Don't buy the accessory line boring head for the Blum machine. Get a low cost boring machine for slightly more than the accessory line boring attachment. The line boring attachment will sit in a drawer, anyway, after you get tired of changing over your Blum to bore shelf holes, 7 at a time, and buy the dedicated line borer. We're just trying to keep you from making an expensive mistake.
From contributor N:I have two Blum Minipresses, one for hinges and the other for line drilling. Dedicated Minipresses is the only way to go rather than changing operations with one machine. I also have a Conquest Mini drill with 13 bits. It's not as accurate as the Blum and is fully manual while the Blum is pneumatic. I drill equally as fast with the Blum and it's easier and more accurate in my experience. The way I justified my setup was when I got both of the Minipresses used at decent prices. New they cost too much. The best way is to use the Blum for hinges and get a mid-grade or better line borer.

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